Clinton Refuses To Rule Out Talks With PA Unity Government

[Purveyor]

By Danna Harman

PARIS - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday refused to rule out further negotiations with a Palestinian government that included Hamas, even as she stressed that the U.S. remains adamant that Hamas renounce terror and violence and recognize Israel's right to exist as a prerequisite.

Asked directly if the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement closed the door on Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations for the foreseeable future, Clinton hedged.

"We are going to be carefully assessing what this actually means, because there are a number of different potential meanings to it, both on paper and in practice," she said at a press conference in Rome on the sidelines of a meeting on Libya.

Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, echoed Clinton's caution at the same press conference. Hamas, he said, had to abide by the conditions outlined by the Quartet if it wanted to be considered "a possible interlocutor." But he did not rule negotiations out.

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http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/clinton-refuses-to-rule-out-talks-with-pa-unity-government-1.360090

[damntexdem]

1. Well, I'm certainly glad that they're willing to talk with Pennsylvania.

;-)

Oh, and I am also glad that they're willing to talk to the Palestinians.

[Ken Burch]

2. What's the alternative?

It's not going to be possible to just make Hamas disappear. Ending the violence requires Hamas being in the loop at least at some level. That's what worked in Northern Ireland...and everything that's being said about Hamas now was being said about the IRA then.